Appendix - Page 2

would cover all the expenses of the

ship; so that the goods brought out, and the furs carried home,

would cost nothing as to freight.

His enterprise was prosecuted with a spirit, intelligence, and

perseverance, that merited success. All the details that we have

met with, prove him to be no ordinary man. He appears to have the

mind to conceive, and the energy to execute extensive and

striking plans. He had once more reared the American flag in the

lost domains of Astoria; and had he been enabled to maintain the

footing he had so gallantly effected, he might have regained for

his country the opulent trade of the Columbia, of which our

statesmen have negligently suffered us to be dispossessed.

It is needless to go into a detail of the variety of accidents

and cross-purposes, which caused the failure of his scheme. They

were such as all undertakings of the kind, involving combined

operations by sea and land, are liable to. What he most wanted,

was sufficient capital to enable him to endure incipient

obstacles and losses; and to hold on until success had time to

spring up from the midst of disastrous experiments.

It is with extreme regret we learn that he has recently been

compelled to dispose of his establishment at Wappatoo Island, to

the Hudson's Bay Company; who, it is but justice to say, have,

according to his own account, treated him throughout the whole of

his enterprise, with great fairness, friendship, and liberality.

That company, therefore, still maintains an unrivalled sway over

the whole country washed by the Columbia and its tributaries. It

has, in fact, as far as its chartered powers permit, followed out

the splendid scheme contemplated by Mr. Astor, when he founded

his establishment at the mouth of the Columbia. From their

emporium of Vancouver, companies are sent forth in every

direction, to supply the interior posts, to trade with the

natives, and to trap upon the various streams. These thread the

rivers, traverse the plains, penetrate to the heart of the

mountains, extend their enterprises northward, to the Russian

possessions, and southward, to the confines of California. Their

yearly supplies are received by sea, at Vancouver; and thence

their furs and peltries are shipped to London. They likewise

maintain a considerable commerce, in wheat and lumber, with the

Pacific islands, and to the north, with the Russian settlements.

Though the company, by treaty, have a right to a participation

only, in the trade of these regions, and are, in fact, but

tenants on sufferance; yet have they quietly